


Minuet of Forest

by Haunt_Haunt_Haunt



Category: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: "Saria's Elegy", AU - Saria is an Ancient Sage, Emotions, F/M, Feels, Forest Temple, Lost Woods, Post-Game, Saria's Song, inspired by a song, mostly canon-compliant, much sad, not smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:23:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22960141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haunt_Haunt_Haunt/pseuds/Haunt_Haunt_Haunt
Summary: Link has finally saved the world, but it's been two years, and he's longing for his friend.
Relationships: Link/Saria
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Minuet of Forest

**Author's Note:**

> I ship them. I ship them so hard. This is an OTP for me and has been ever since I was small, but maybe with them both as adults.
> 
> Don't sue me please. I own none of the copyrighted stuff.
> 
> The Song "Saria's Elegy" inspired this, and can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/track/7uCPYxCnW91ew2kzbTmMdz?si=tlxWF0YJTPqu0Q5ca4mqYg

He hated Moblins. That’s all he could think of right at that moment. First were the patrolling guards, which weren’t as difficult really, but the one at the end of the walkway was particularly troublesome. He had to get just close enough, then a well placed arrow shot between the eyes took it down. It shouldn’t have been so difficult. Ganondorf really messed this place up, and even though he was gone, Link doubted that any of the areas around the temples would return to normal anytime soon. He walked up the familiar steps to the familiar stump, and there was the Forest Temple, just out of reach. He had his hookshot with him, but hopefully that wouldn’t be necessary. He could have played the Minuet of Forest to reach this area, but that would have defeated the point, wouldn’t it have? He reached into his bag withdrawing his ocarina, but not the shiny Ocarina of Time. This one was older, hand carved, with a green band around its neck. It wasn’t polished and painted and lacquered. It was good solid and smooth wood.

He put it to his mouth, then paused. What was he even doing? Did she want to see him again? Zelda was all well and good, but there was nothing there. He tried to develop feelings for the two years that he spent trying to fix things with her, and he just couldn’t. His heart belonged to someone else, which was complicated in itself. He knew she wasn’t a kid. He knew that the Kokiri form that she took was just that, and she could look like whatever she wanted. Was she even a she? He’d asked himself a similar question. Even still, would she come to him if he called? Was it a smart thing to try to do? He’d worked really hard to ditch Navi just to get here. Now here he was, and he didn’t know if he could take the final step. He wasn’t ready to hear what she had to say.

He sighed. He wasn’t a coward. He’d fought giant dragons as a child. He held his own against Twinrova and Bongo Bongo. He wasn’t a coward. Not in the sense of putting his life in danger, but when it came to matters of the heart, he absolutely was, and he knew it. He was the freaking Hero of Time, and he couldn’t talk to a girl. It was almost embarrassing. He put the Ocarina to his mouth again. It felt different, but not uncomfortable. He had gotten so used to the Ocarina of Time, he’d forgotten what this one felt like. He played the notes. They meant so much, and they echoed outward into the Lost Woods. Those notes were so important to him, and he just hoped that they’d reach her ears.  
The notes faded and drifted off, and he took off his sword and shield, resting them to his side, sitting on the taller stump like he had so long ago. He waited silently, hoping she heard him. He closed his eyes, remembering. The memories were the hardest. Waking up on that day to her running towards his house. Following him out of the Lost Woods and giving him the very object he held in his hands. She almost looked sad that day, like she was losing her best friend. When he came back, albeit as an adult, her face lit up. She was so happy to see him again, even though Ganondorf was ripping through all of Hyrule and twisting it. She smiled, like she had so many times before. It filled his heart then, and it made his head swim now.

Then he heard a small giggle. “You never know when to give up, do you?”

He opened his eyes, and there she was. She was in her typical form. That of a Kokiri, but it was the one he was familiar and comfortable with. She smiled at him. “I didn’t think I’d see you again. I thought you were too busy being the Hero of Time. I’ve been with the other sages. We’ve been trying to use our powers to help cleanse the land, but Ganon did a great job of messing everything up, didn’t he?” She hopped off her stump and sauntered over to him, then, when she was within arms reach, she placed her fists to her hips and held herself in that way that she did. “What do you need? You called, and I’m here. Or are you gonna be mute with me too?”

He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t really expect it to work. He eyed the Fairy Ocarina suspiciously, then placed it back in his bag. What should he say? He figured he’d start with something simple. Something easy. Something they both felt.

“I missed you,” he said. He was always a man of few words, but sometimes, words were necessary.

Her smile faltered a little. “I… I missed you too. It got kinda lonely after you left. You weren’t around anymore, and then Mido was an asshole, and I started coming here more and more. Then Phantom Ganon happened, and I didn’t think it’d be you that came to save me, really. I don’t know who I suspected. I always knew who and what you were.” She sat on the ground, playing with some of the grass there, and seemed to be lost in thought. “I’m glad you came to visit though. The loneliness didn’t get much better when I rejoined Rauru. Sages don’t really get to have lasting relationships. Especially not us Ancients.” She flicked at the grass a little, not exactly happy. She seemed to have something on her mind.

“So what are you?” Link asked.

“What a question,” she said with a bittersweet smile. “Not a Kokiri. The rest of the sages are what they appear to be. I’m an Ancient Sage, like Rauru. We’re the only two left. You know, the originals. We built the Temple of Time and the Temple of Light, we crafted the Master Sword, or the Goddess Sword as it used to be called. We helped stop Demise all of those years ago, and we were the ones to trap Ganon alongside the Knights of Hyrule. That was all a… a very long time ago. Believe it or not, the Temple of Time didn’t always used to be on the ground. Once it was a part of a floating city. The history of the world is interesting.” She yawned and leaned back. “I guess that isn’t what you asked though, and I was deflecting. I have a habit of that. No, I’m an Ancient Sage. One of the handmaidens of Hylia herself. Some have called me Farore. Some called me Faron. Still others will call me by many names, and I’ll take many forms, not all of them the girl before you. At one point in the future, I’ll be a Kokiri boy named Fado. You’ll never meet that incarnation. It’ll be much after your time.” She paused after that, and seemed to get sad again. “Time. There’s not much of that for mortals. That’s why I tend to stay at a distance. It hurts sometimes, to get close, and that’s problematic because I take after Farore, and I uphold life. Life is emotion. The others have no problem staying detached.”

“Why me?”

“Odd question. Why you? Do you mean why I’m attached to you? What’s special about you? You aren’t the first Link to walk this land. You’re part of a bloodline. That’s what this planet runs on. Bloodlines. Darunia, Ruto, all of them have ancestors that were sages, and were sages-to-be because of that blood that runs through their veins. Even Her Royal Majesty,” she said it with no small amount of spite. Link hadn’t expected that.

“You don’t like Zelda?”

Saria frowned again. “That’s not what I said. It’s complicated. You probably don’t want to hear it.”

“I do.”

She snorted. “Fine. Princess Zelda is also from a bloodline. Many Zelda’s have existed, each of them the Seventh Sage. The Sage of Wisdom. Technically, they’re supposed to lead us, as passed down from Hylia herself, but we always questioned why mortals were supposed to lead divinity. It never made much sense. Mortals have flaws. But, I guess my distaste shows that I have flaws too. My problem is that my job, and what has always been my job for millenia, is to watch and guard the many Links that have come before. I get attached to these Links, taking care of them, forming friendships and attachments and emotions, and then… they leave. They always leave, and I’m alone again. But not Zelda. No, because she’s mortal, she gets to stay in Hyrule and all the Links end up falling for her and marrying her and it’s heartbreaking. I’m a little jealous, maybe. Its stupid, a demigod wanting to experience mortal things like love.” She shook her head. “I think I’m broken, and definitely jaded. You know that you’re the first one of all of your ancestors to come look for me after they saved the world?”

That complicated things. That was exactly why he came back. She clearly didn’t know. Apparently there was some destiny he was supposed to fill and carry on a royal bloodline or something. That sounded awful. He was done with destiny and fate for one lifetime.

“Why that form?”

She blinked, then looked down. “Oh. I guess I got used to wearing it. It’s something familiar to you, is why. I can fix it.” She stood and snapped her fingers, and an unearthly green light surrounded her. She closed her eyes, and the light got extremely bright and engulfed her. When it faded, she was the same person, but actually looked as old as he did, as if Saria had aged with him. Complete with breasts, which were confusing and slightly arousing to him. She wasn’t in the same clothes either. She wore the same green tunic, but she replaced the shorts for a green skirt, and brown boots that came up to her knees. Her hair was the same, and her facial features had aged to the twenty or so that he was. His feelings were much less complicated now. “This is what I actually look like, for the most part, minus the shimmery dress. I hated the dress. Lanayru always looked better in the dress. I did better in practical clothes.” She then twirled. The skirt fanned out flat. “What do you think? Do you like skirts? Should I go back to the pants?”

He just shrugged. He was indifferent to it all, really, but the skirt came to her mid thigh and showed off her legs, so he wasn’t complaining at all.

“So, this is it. This is the real me, in all my divine glory. The handmaiden of Hylia herself.” She put her fist on her hip, and her expression got sad again. “And I guess this is goodbye. I’m glad to have known you. You came back when none of the others did. That says a lot about you.” She turned toward her stump, and Link was off of his and grabbed her hand in an instant. The touch was like electricity through him. She paused, and turned back to him. He met her eyes. They were beautiful deep green emeralds, and they swirled a little, like a rolling thunderstorm. A true mark of divinity.

“I don’t want you to go.”

“I don’t want to go, but we’re destined to be apart.”

“No.”

She blinked. She hadn’t expected that. None of the others ever treated her that way. “Link, I know what you want, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, but it’s not possible. Hero of Time or not, you’re mortal, and I’m a demigod. I have a job in the Sacred Realm. If I took you with me, well, Rauru would be peeved, for starters, and let’s not get into how Hylia herself would feel.”

He leaned forward, kissing her gently on the lips,and she returned it. He placed his arms around her waist, and she pressed one hand to his chest, and the other on his cheek. They kissed for several seconds, then she pulled away, resting her head on his chest. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be, please,” she whispered.

“Don’t go. I love you,” Link said almost as quietly.

“I know you do, and that’s why I have to go. Because I love you too.”

She got on her tiptoes and kissed him again, but not like the one before. The one before was full of passion and longing. This one was to kiss him goodbye. She then turned, going to her stump, and turned back to him, and raised her hand. A bright green light encompassed her, and he swore he saw her crying as she disappeared into the light.


End file.
